Chelsea resident Ellen Godfrey addresses the Chelsea City Council during its March 6 meeting. At the meeting, Godfrey expressed concerns regarding a neighbor's barking dogs and the lack of protections offered by the city's current animal ordinance.

The City of Chelsea’s animal ordinance states it is unlawful for an owner to allow their dog to bark for 10 minutes or more. But according to Chelsea resident Ellen Godfrey, that is not enough to protect against the intrusive sound of a dog’s persistent bark.

Ellen Godfrey, who lives in High Chaparral, addressed the council during its March 6 meeting and requested it consider modifying the animal ordinance “in order to make it fair, effective and readily enforceable to protect the victims of excessive barking.”

Her neighbor’s dogs, she said, have made it to where her 3-year-old granddaughter does not want to go outside to play; have negatively affected her husband, who is an Army veteran and relives memories of attack dogs due to the neighboring dogs’ barking; and have limited their own dogs’ ability to go into their fenced back yard.

The issue, Ellen Godfrey said following the council meeting, has been ongoing for two years, and they felt like attempts to solve the issue amicably were ineffective.

Her neighbor’s three dogs will bark loudly and frequently, Ellen Godfrey and her husband Dennis Godfrey said, but the duration of their barking does not meet the 10-minute interval requirement in the ordinance.

“You just never know when the shoe’s going to drop,” said Dennis Godfrey, regarding when the barking may start.

After talking did not appear to work, they called the sheriff’s office, he said, and received a recommendation to come before the council.

“The next thing is, if the council doesn’t approve it, then what I’m going to do — I’m getting an attorney, and I’m filing a lawsuit against my neighbor,” Dennis Godfrey said. “I hate that it would have to come to that, but that’s what I’m going to do.”

Another issue with the ordinance, Ellen Godfrey said, is that it doesn’t offer protections to the victims. It protects the “bad guy,” Dennis Godfrey said.

“We’ve done all we can do, so we’re just trying to explore some other way of doing it,” Ellen Godfrey said.

In addition to speaking before the council, Ellen Godfrey presented packets of information that included examples of potential new wording for the ordinance. These examples included phrasing such as, “It shall be illegal for anyone to allow their dog’s voice or any other sound produced by their dog, to be projected into human habitat, or for anyone to allow any sound produced by their dog to be projected into any location where any person finds that sound to be objectionable.”

Following Godfrey’s presentation, Mayor Tony Picklesimer thanked her for her time and said the council would take those concerns into consideration.

Also at the meeting, the council:

Approved an ordinance to remove abandoned vehicles and property from the right-of-way or other public areas. The ordinance was first introduced at the Feb. 20 city council meeting, and cited a 48-hour time frame to remove the vehicle or property after notification.

Approved a resolution to endorse the Alabama Bicentennial Commission.

Approved a resolution to purchase a new 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe for the Chelsea Citizens Observer Patrol. This was the first vehicle purchased for the COPs since 2013, Picklesimer said.

Approved a resolution to adjust rates for Ambulance Transport Services done by Chelsea Fire & Rescue. These rates had not been evaluated for 10 years, said Chief Wayne Shirley, and the new rates were based on “industry standards” and what Blue Cross Blue Shield had noted it would pay for those services.

Approved to pay the city’s bills.

The next council meeting will be March 20. Pre-council will start at 5 p.m., and the regular council meeting will start at 6 p.m.